73



“ Sylvia,”



largest heronries at present are :—At Rosneatli, Dumbarton¬

shire, about 35 nests in Scotch firs ; at Eglinton Castle, Ayr, 30

nests in Scotch firs and beeches ; at Kelburn Park, Ayr,

25 nests in beeches ; at Inverary, Argyllshire, about 20 nests

in spruce, Scotch firs, and beeches ; at Mount Stuart, Rothesay,

18 nests in Scotch firs and beeches. North of the Mull of

Kintyre there is a wide expanse of bleak moorland, 50 or 60

square miles in extent, where the Heron, adapting itself to

circumstances, has been found to nest 011 ledges of rock and

on the ground. There the late Mr. Gray on two occasions saw

100 to 150 of these birds standing close together on a hillside

above a fresh-water loch, all the time keeping up an incessant

harsh gabble which could be heard a mile away.


During my walks along the shore I occasionally find the

eggs of the Ringed Plover (SEgialitis hiaticola, Einu.) so early in

the season as the first week in April, and so late as the end of

June ; this surely points to the fact of there being at least two

broods in the season. The eggs of the Oyster-catcher ( Hcemato -

p 7 is ostraleg 7 is, Linn.) are also of frequent occurrence among the

rough gravel, shells, etc., at the highest tide-marks. I some¬

times come upon the nest of the Common Gull ( Lci 7 r 7 is can 7 is,

Linn.), usually a large well-made structure, and those of the

Common and Arctic Terns ( Steri 7 a flitviatilis and A. macmra,

Naum.). Jackdaws are daily to be seen on the shore ; thej' nest

in adjacent low cliffs. Watertou might well marvel at the

stupidity sometimes evinced by these birds during nidification.

I have more than once watched one of these astute members, of

the corvine race endeavouring to thrust a stick broadside-ou

into the narrow cleft selected as a breeding-place, and after a

while, unable to accomplish its object, drop the stick and go in

search of another.


Magpies (Pica rustica, Scop.) have of late years become

very abundant in an almost treeless locality, not many miles from

here, and close to a large town ; in autumn they are frequently

observed in flocks of seven or eight. I only once found a nest of

this species in the neighbourhood referred to, it was placed in a

straggling sloe hedge ( K Pr 7 aius spii 70 sa ), the only one of the kind I

know of in that countryside. I may mention that in another



